While most people are aware of the big-name software titles—Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, and the like—some of the best Mac software is, like so many precious gems, hidden. Many great products out there don’t get the recognition, or even the awareness, that they deserve. And when that happens, Mac users miss out.

That’s where Macworld comes in. We mine the Web, looking for inexpensive software (generally $35 or less) that makes your Mac run better, helps you work more efficiently, and lets your Mac do the little things—and some pretty big ones—you always wished it could do. We call these programs Mac Gems, and we’re highlighting the very best in our Mac Gems Superguide, second edition.

Make finding inexpensive Mac software easy with our new collection of OS X Lion gems from senior editor Dan Frakes, now available as an ebook and a PDF.

We’ve picked our favorite Lion-compatible products, and we present them here. For each program, we give you a brief description of what it does, as well as links to the developer’s website and our full review.

Some of the products are ones we’ve recently discovered; others are oldies but goodies. The one thing they all have in common is that each is a standout product that won’t break the bank.

If you’d like to read the book on your Mac, consider a full color PDF of the Superguide; you can also cover all your bases and have a copy of each version for each of your devices with our $3.99 ebook and PDF bundle.

Want to take a peek at the book before you purchase anything? You can either check out a free sample from the iBookstore, or download a preview from our website.